Karnataka State Police-History

The foundation of present police set up was laid after the appointment of State’s first Inspector General of Police. Today the State Police has grown into a big and complex organization running on modern management principles.

1. Karnataka State Police-HISTORY
-Sanjay Sahay.IGP.,

PREFACE:
Police in Karnataka were called by various names in different regions.
After initiation of Policing, they were initially called Thoti, Talwar,
Umbalidhar, Kattubidi, Neeraganti etc. The police primarily with policing
used to do other jobs entrusted to them. The foundation of present police
set up was laid after the appointment of State’s first Inspector General of
Police. Today the State Police has grown into a big and complex
organization running on modern management principle s.
HISTORY:
Mysore State was the predecessor to Karnataka State, which was created
on 1st November 1965. Sri. L. Rickets was appointed as first Inspector
General of Police, prior to which the State Police had no status, structure
and powers as such. During 1883 it was reported tha t Talwars, Thotis,
Neeragantis, Kavalugararu, Amaragararu, Ankamaale, Patela,
Shyanubhogas etc. used to do policing. During the r ule of Maharajas of
Mysore, the policing existed in different variants.
KANDACHARA OR HUKUMNAMA:
Hukumnama or Kandachara was issued for policing dur ing the rule of
Maharaja Mummudi Krishna Raja Wodeyar (1799-1811) a t old Mysore
region under the British rule, when Sri. Poornaiah was Dewan. The
soldiers belonging to Maharaja’s infantry were entr usted with
responsibility of policing, which European soldiers supervised. Amaldhars
(now Tehasildhars) the revenue officers were Taluk Police Chiefs. They
were assisted by Faujidhars, who also collected tax es from peasants.
Police system worked in various names such as Talwa rs, Thotigars, and
Kavalgars. Later in 1817 as per Bengal regulation m odel law was
enforced, Patels, Shyanubhogas were entrusted with police
responsibilities. They were neither paid, granted leave or vehicles were
provided to them. Instead Maharaja gave them Inam ( Bhakshis) in the
form of lands or food grains.
In 1853, Police Act was enacted across the country. When Lord Cubbon
was posted as Commissioner there were 8 districts d ivided into 3
divisions, each district headed by the Magistrate (District Collector), and
Superintendents were posted. Both had no formal tra ining. The District
Magistrates were Police Chiefs assisted by Superintendents of Police.

2. JUDICIAL SYSTEM:
In the year 1856, when the Judicial System became f unctional, Judicial
Commissioners were appointed. In 1873 a rank of Dep uty Inspector
General of Police was appointed to assist him. During the same period
posts of first class Inspector, second class Inspec tors, Jamadhars,
Daphedhars (Head Constables), Constables were creat ed. Shirasthidhars,
Head Quarters assistants in District Magistrates office used to sanction the
police staffs pay and other requirements. At Taluk levels Amaldhars
continued as police chiefs. A monthly pay of Rupees Thirty to Fifty was
fixed to first class and second class officers alon g with residential
allowances of Rupees Ten. Also Jamadhars, Daphedhar s and constables
used to get a monthly salary of Rupees twelve and eight respectively.
First IGP:
Reformation of police system took place in the year 1883. On the 1st of
November 1885 Sri Ricket was appointed the First In spector General of
Police of old Mysore State. Later Sri V.P. Madhav R ao took over the
charge from Sri Rickets. A separate policing was en forced for cities of
Mysore and Bangalore. Government met the expenditur e of police system
in Bangalore whereas local municipality had to meet the expenditure on
Mysore City Police.
At the same time Yelanduru belonged to Jahagirdhar, who was also in-
charge of policing. He entrusted police jobs to his lieutenant’s.

3. Expenditure of policing was taken care by Jahagirdh ar, who was
Superintendent of Police himself. The system was terminated or leased in
1884. At the same time priority was given to educate police.
In 1892, a Police Training School was established at Bangalore to train
Jamdhars, Dhaphedhars and constables. Recruitment a nd training was
under taken by Police Training School annually by c onducting
examination. Competitive tests were conducted to provide promotions.
As years passed problems started surfacing as there were no regulations
or set rules to be followed in policing. Hence unde r the guidance of
Inspector General of Police, the Head Quarter Inspector Sri. N. Laxman
Shasthri published a guided hand book for police.
MINISTER:
Sri D. Devaraj Urs who was Inspector General of Pol ice in 1912 visited
Vellore, studied the pattern adopted there for police training. During his
regime he bought about massive changes to Bangalore Police Training
School. Later Sri Katheshwar Iyer made a Criminolog y museum for the
Training School.
Sri Devaraj Urs, Inspector General of Police was promoted to Councilship
(Cabinet) and was first Inspector General of Police to become a minister.
Mr. F.A. Hamiltion was posted as Inspector General of Police in 1930 and
headed the police force for a period of 8 years dur ing which he
administered a lot of changes.
As years passed by, pulled carts, Tangas increased, cycles, motorcycles
and cars come on roads, the need for traffic regula tion arose. Sri
Hamilton created Traffic divisions for Mysore and B angalore cities. In
Bangalore Upparpet, Ulsoor gate and Kalasipalyam Po lice Stations were
entrusted with responsibility of traffic regulation. At Mysore a European
Head Constable was chief of Traffic division, but A maldhar used to
sanction his monthly pay and allowance. Later Polic e Constables were
provided with cycles and each constable was paid wi th fixed cycle
allowance of Rupees Seven and Eight Paisa per month.
PROBATIONER:
In the year 1932 to recruit literates into the police force Probationary
Police Inspectors were directly recruited. State Inspector General of Police
was the appointing authority. Annually ten probationers Police Inspectors
were to be recruited. Thus police department starte d recruiting literate
officers.
The Government decided to encourage the staff with exemplary courage,
meritorious service by rewarding with “Gandaberunda” honour in 1935. A
Constable or Officer so rewarded would get incremen t ranging from
Rupees Three to Twelve.

4. There was increase in Vehicles registration; drivers were issued licenses,
when bus warrant system comes into effect. A “Weigh Bridge” was
constructed in the premises of Inspector General of Police office. Bus
Warrant payment for subordinates came in vogue duri ng this time and
still continues in the police department.
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT:
From 1939 onwards the winds of freedom struggle ble w strongly in Royal
State of Mysore. The heat of Civil disobedience had hit police force.
Leaders Sri. H. Siddaiah, T. Subramanyam, Malavalli Veerappa along with
2000 protesters were arrested. Out of them 1641 wer e convicted which
became a big issue at that period.
As Bangalore grew, population and crime rate increa sed burdening the
police with more work, when Sri. M.K. Somappa was a ppointed as Deputy
Inspector General of Police, Bangalore City in 1944.At the same time in
Bangalore city a private bank was started by B.N. Gopala Rao and lot of
complaints of irregular practice in the said bank w ere reported. The
Government appointed a Commission of enquiry headed by Justice Sri. P.
Medappa, S. Nijalingappa, Tekuru Subramanya, N. Vee rappa and N.T.
Babu Reddy. Police Officer Sri. N.T. Babu Reddy was secretary to the
commission. Government accepted the recommendations of commission
and increased the salary of Sri Babu Reddy by Rupee s One Hundred and
Fifty.
KODAGU:
Kodagu was ruled by local chieftains as there was n o organised police
system, and Jamma peasants managed policing. Crimin als were caned as
punishment. Patels and Gowdas were promoted as Sube dhars. An office
called “Dharnaghal” was established to receive public complaints. In 1861
after implementation of Police Act, a Chief Commissioner was appointed
for Kodagu, who was also Inspector General of Police.
BELLARY-MANGALORE:
The present Bellary-Mangalore Regions belonged to old Madras Presidency
where Kavalugara and Palegaras enforced policing. A systematic policing
came into effect on implementation of Police Act 1861, with the posting of
Superintendent of police and Assistant Superintendent of Police.
Since 1827, effective policing has been in force in Belgaum, Dharwad,
Bijapur, Uttara Kannada under the administrative control of old Bombay
Presidency. In Pune Deputy Inspector General Police was the Police Chief
and supervised the above four districts. The eligibility of tenth standard or
intermediate was required to become a Police Inspec tor. Officers were
trained in London in the cadre of “Imperial Police” and were posted as
Assistant Superintendent of Police and promoted as Superintendent of

5. Police after Ten years. Subsequently, Indian Police Service Officers were
selected for the positions held by IP Officers earlier.
HYDERABAD:
Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar come under Hyderabad Nizam ’s rule where the
term “Sadar-Ali_Moham” or “Police Minister” was used. Ammendhars and
Police Inspectors were Taluk level chiefs along with “Deewani Police” and
“Jahagir Police” culture. Jahagirdhars of the area used to appoint “Jahagir
Police” who had to protect property of Jahagirdhar. The system ended
when Hyderabad became a part of the Indian Union.
AFTER 1956:
In 1956 the reorganization of states was done in India on linguistic basis.
On the same lines the Mysore state came in existenc e in 1956. The
unified state police got a uniform dress code under Mysore Police. With
the passage of time there was increase in violence, law & order problems
arose, crime rate increased and a strong force was developed with
improved facilities to meet the new challenges.
During the initial years of the Mysore State, the police department had
only three Deputy Inspectors General of Police of R anges at Belgaum,
Bangalore and Mysore along with a small Reserve For ce, Intelligence and
Criminal Investigation Department. Sri P.K. Monappa was the first
Inspector General of Police and also State’s first IP (Imperial Police)
Officer.
Sri S.N. Hosalli took over from Sri. Monappa on his retirement. Sri. Hosalli
was the last IP Officer who served the state for a period of twelve and half
years as Inspector General of Police.
The border districts of Karnataka even though unified, were out of reach
during emergencies. Hence another Range Office was created at Gulbarga
with Deputy Inspector General of Police heading it. Meanwhile,
Portuguese had vacated Goa and the Central Governme nt handed over its
administration to Karnataka State Police. Central G overnment gave
certificate of meritorious service to Karnataka Police for the service
rendered in Goa.
BANGALORE CITY:
After unification of Karnataka, Bangalore as Capita l City grew very
rapidly, posing various challenges to the police. Bangalore City became a
Commissionerate on 4th July 1963. Sri. C. Chandhy, a Senior Deputy
Inspector General of Police was appointed as the Police Commissioner.
As Karnataka was unified from various regions, which had enforced their
own police laws, regulations and culture, to provid e uniformity the

6. Karnataka Police Act 1963 came into force from 2nd April 1965. Hence a
uniform Police regulation across entire state was e nforced. Yet the
problem was not solved. Thosis, Talwar, Patels etc. were part of policing.
Hence the Karnataka Village Defense Parties Act was passed and enforced
in 1964.
Sri Devaraj Urs became Chief Minister 1972, and held Home portfolio till
he was in power. During his reign, the department s haped into a huge
organization. The Criminal Investigation Department and Intelligence
units were separated and were headed by Deputy Insp ector General of
Police. Later CID was transformed into COD and its office shifted from
Inspector General of Police office to present “CARLTON HOUSE”. Corps of
Detective used to investigate crimes exclusively. Hence Forest, Food cells
and Forensic Science Lab were placed under the supe rvision and control
of COD. Later food cell and forest cell separated from COD and a Deputy
Inspector of Police was posted for supervising their work.
At the same time atrocities against SCs/STs were increasing. Hence Civil
Rights Enforcement Cell was set up in Corps of Detectives under Deputy
Inspector General of Police.
HOME GUARDS AND FIRE FORCE:
Home Guards and Fire force are two wings of Police department, a real
necessity during emergencies rendering services to public round the
clock. Later these wings were split from Police Dep artment. Sri A.R.
Nizamuddin was appointed as Director General of Pol ice, Fire Force and
Home Guards.
POLICE COMPUTER WING:
Maintenance of Records is an integral part of the P olice Station work,
when such maintenance of records became a burden to the department
then computerisation of all the police station records was initiated under a
new and modern system of functioning. Initially the photographs of
Criminals, their history sheets, finger prints were computerised and
subsequently computerised the salary bills of police staff. The SP rank
officer was heading this unit initially. Presently an Officer of the rank of
Inspector of General of Police heads the Police Computer Wing.
Presently Police Departments Computerization is man aged by Police
Computer Wing, coordinating all IT tasks with the a vailable technical
knowledge in the department and also development an d deployment of
Police IT ERP solution.
Since 1977 State Crime Records Bureau has compiled information of
Crimes, Criminals and provided information (within in State and

7. nationally) required to collate crime statistics and classified crimes under
guidance of Inspector General of Police, Police Computer Wing.
TRANSPORT SYSTEM:
Police Department started with cycle force in 1928, has a completely
modern transport system today. In 1928-30 we had 3 buses but presently
the department has a fleet of buses, jeeps, cars, and two-wheelers etc. to
meet various challenges of policing in a competent manner. Maintenance
of vehicles and training of drivers are amongst the main tasks of this unit.
RESERVE BATTALION:
When Mysore State was formed there were no major La w and Order
problems, which subsequently started surfacing like protests, rallies etc.
Hence to contain and control such situations Karnat aka Reserve Police
was created. In 1956 state had three battalions (with Aggregate of more
than 3000 persons), presently it has eleven Battalions along with two
India Reserve Battalions in the state, with four Ba ttalions at Head
Quarters in Bangalore and rest located at Mysore, B elgaum, Gulbarga,
Mangalore, Shimoga, Hassan and Shiggao in Haveri Di strict.
Other than Karnataka State Reserve Police, State ha s District & City
armed reserves in every unit across the state.
TRAINING:
As the police force grew in numbers and tasks becam e complex, it
became important to provide appropriate training to enable the force to
be very smart, strong and disciplined. Hence Training Schools across the
state were started to train the constables and also Police Training College
was started at Mysore to train Police Sub Inspector s, DySp’s and IPS
officers.
WOMEN POLICE:
With the aim of social reforms, the department started recruiting Woman
Police. During State re-organisation nine women police came into the fold
of State Police from Mumbai Karnataka region, prese ntly Women Police
Constables are working in all Police Stations across the State. Smt. Jija
Hira Singh was first Woman IPS Officer in the State of Karnataka.
POLICE DOG SQUAD:
Police Dogs were utilized from 1968. Sri. J.B. Samual who retired from
Madras started dog squad in Karnataka. Initially squad had six Canines
which have now increased to more than forty.

8. POLICE BENEVOLENT FUND:-
For welfare of Police, various schemes such as Police Housing, Karnataka
Police Benevolent Fund, Arogya Bhagya etc. have been created.




The new State of Karnataka came into existence on N ovember1, 1956.
The erstwhile State of Mysore with 10 districts, 4 districts from erstwhile
State of Bombay, 3 districts from erstwhile State of Hyderabad, 1 district
and 1 Taluka from erstwhile State of Madras and pa rt of Coorg State
were integrated into one unit. Consequently, the new State of Karnataka
had five different police systems, Acts, Rules, Manuals and even uniforms
when it was formed. In all these spheres uniformity was brought and by
1965 the entire force was reorganised. The state enacted the Police Act in

9. 1963 and brought it into force with effect from April 2, 1965. The city of
Bangalore has a Police Commissioner as head of the city police. There is a
Water Front Police for Uttara Kannada (North Canara ) district for
patrolling through motor launches.